This invention relates to a composite foam panel comprising an organic foam core with layers of organic and inorganic fibers on opposite major surfaces thereof.
In one of its more specific aspects, this invention relates to a foam panel usable as a roofing component.
The use of composite panels having an organic foam core with inorganic fibers on both major surfaces is well known. U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,980 to Richards et al discloses such a panel which has excellent structural integrity. To a great degree, this integrity is attained by placing the inorganic fibrous layers in contact with the foam which forms the core. This contact is established by foaming the core such that the foam tends to penetrate the interstices in the fibrous layers, but only sufficiently to provide adherence between the layers; that is, the foam remains as a discrete layer except at the inter-locking interfaces between it and the other layers.
A second, well known composite panel is that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,158 to Hipchen et al. This composite comprises a facing sheet, a mat of glass fibers and a foam. During the formation of the composite, the facing sheets, having the mat and the foam-forming mixture therebetween, are passed through nip rolls. The pressure of the nip rolls destroys the discreteness of the foam such that the composite, upon expansion after the nip roll compression, exists with its interstices at least partially filled with foam.